The Republican journal., 1887-07-21
MAINE, THURSDAY, JULY 81, 1887
In the Land of the Montezumas.

In the Land of the Montezumas.
| ROMANCEAND RIGHTEOUSNESS DISAPPEAR
ING BEFORE MODERN PROGRESS. A SECTION
| so RICH THAT TIE INDIANS LOAD THEIR
| GUNS WITH BALLS OF PURE SILVER.
Correspondence of the Journal.
CITY OF MEXICo, June eth. If you are
contemplating Il trip to McXico--as most good
Americans are in these days-I wish to impress
upon your mind that the sooner you make II
the better. Were YOU going to Europe, to
China, Jerusalem, or to any other country
where affairs are stationary. so to speak, 1t
would make little difference whether you went
now or number of years later. But not so
with Mexico. Here every thing is in Il transit
tion state, old things are fast passing away. and
not only the ancient landmarks, but customs
and traditions which gave the country its great
est charm are disappearing like dew before the
morning sun. Commercially and educationally
the "march of progress may he an improve
ment, but it is certainly death to romance and
picturesqueness.
The old-time casds of Moorish architecture,
which in other days were forts as well as
|
''gingcr-bread work. in base imitation of the
| paste-bOard houses of the United States-with
| much the same effect that the ribbons and geW-
| gaws of ''sweet sixteen would produce upon
the wrinkled brow of an octogenaran. In
| THE DRESS OF THE PEOPLE
the change is even more decidedly for the
| worse. Nothing could possibly be more appro-
| pirate and becoming to these dark-cyed Meri-
c0nOeS then their wide sombreros short Jackets.
| silvcr-bedccked breeclles and gorgeous silkcn
sashes; and for beautiful women of the Spanish
and Indian type, the graceful lace m0ntil0
| drapcd about the head and shoulders. But
| now every woman of fashion must have Il
hidcous hat or bonnet-a la Americauo; and
| the men of wealth no longer promenade the
| plaZas IN those distractnS Spanish cloaks. with
| one SatIn-lincd corner tossed over the shoulder,
which are warranted to make the pancst and
most unromantlc Of men look like il vcriabc
Romeo. Now they insist upon Iondon-made
garments. AS nearly like those of Northerncrs
| as possible, regardless of the vast difference in
the makeup Of the AnSlo-SaXon and Latin
races.
The broad-brimmctl, Svcr-la,,cn sombrcro,
too,-so perfectly adapted to the eternal sun
shine and so becoming to >warthy skins and
midnight eyeS,-mu>t give place to the Stitt
little hats in vogue among Americans. in many
instances. Sreve to add. to those incompar-
ably ugly Silken tiles. which makes the hand
soonest Mexican look like fool of the first
water.
Even the lower classes are fast diScar,lin.
the srrdpe that most picturesque and con-
Nenicnt of wrapping>-and adopting in their
stead any kind of shoddy overroat for evening
wear. Formerly one Of the charms of every
rural gathering was The vivid coIoring produced
| by the multitude of brght-hued Scrapes, each
ranchcro and half-bred wearing one sIlng over
his shoulder. and regarding it-ncNt to the
Somhrero-;'s his most precious earthly pos
session.
The names of the streets are rapidly chang
ing, from the poetical OF intensely religious to
nomenclature the most prosaic: as, for cX-
ample, 'the street of the Sad Indian.' and
"Crown of Thomas street. are now called re-
spectivcly Fourth avenue and Diaz street.
With characteristic poor taste, the government
is doing all in its power to a and ahet these
sad innovations. First is silenccd the Cathedral
bells, which in the good old days were con-
>tantIy calling the Faithful to prayers; then it
abolished all cOnventual and monastic orders,
and forbade the wearing of pricstly habits
upon the streets, so that now the cowl and
hempen girdc, the dear old shovel hats, and
the back or gray robes of hooded nuns no
more lend picturcsGucne>> to every scene. 1t
is. however,
A SINGULAR CIRCUMSTANCE
that about the same time the cdict went forth
which rendered homeless thousands of the
gentle SSterlIood whose lives had been con-
Secratcd to charity and holiness. Il law was
passed licensing the occupation of another
class of females upon the simple condition that
each should carry book containin" her NUM-
Der and wear Il certain style of habit
Most of the old time religious professions
and paSeants of superstition We're prohibited
by law. some years ago. and since Diaz' last
administration even the Passion PLAY. (former-
ly the great event of the year in the rural dis
trict, occupying at least seven days. has been
strictly forbidden. to the great grief Of the
Indians and the disappointment of tourists.
The same high authority in compelling the
owners of buildings to paint out the poetiaa
or hiSh-flown names under which they once re-
joiccd, and to substitute something common
place, more in accordance with the spirit of
the age. Who would not rather see a j,ulynrria
with its rosc-wreathed barrels, poplpy-dccked
tankards, curtains of woven rushes ntcrtwined
with mariSold> before the door, and picture of
the owners patron saint set up among the
cs.--de'licatcd ''To the Lover of Venus;
to "La Santessima Nergin de Guadalup'' or even
to LA Madre de Dios,' than called "John
Smiths place." or in palmer terms ''IIans
PretzeFs saloon:" Though in the Mexican
Capital the Transformation is almost complete,
in the rural districts one still finds plenty of
pulqueras whose names are the incarnation of
quaintncss. | saw one the other day whose
ambiguous title. painted in big letters across the
front, is NamanoS al Golfo dc MeNico-.sLet
us go to the Gulf of MeXco;" another is called
'..Seven little Loves" another "Thc Angel of
the Annunciation; another 1.-THE Holy Spirit
of llope;' while hundreds are dedicated to the
''Mother of Christ" or to Jesus himself, and
SO on through all the saints in the calendar and
all the superstitous and poetical notions that
have taken hold of these people,
Visit this country, repeat, before all that is
antique and beautiful in architecture shall have
been ruthessy destroyed by
VANpAL PROPERTY OWNERS;
before all the blue-haired and pink-eved Saints
shall have been knocked down from their
riches i'll the house-Walls and bridges; before
the wayside shrines. where every passcr used
to kncel and cross himself, are all removed;
before the stone floors of the ancient sanctua-
ries, worn into holows by the knees of wor-
shippers long gone to dust, shall have been re-
placed by pine boards and the fat-lcggcd angels
and the no-legged cherubim carved upon the
massive doors and outer walls shall have been
daubed with sacre9ouS paint and whiteWash;
come before the sandallcd Ruralcs and the
handsome haciendadoes shall have changed
their graceful equestrian costumes for stove
pipe hats and other Northern denominations.
The utilitarans, with their alleged improve
imgs erected during the Spanish domination.
Within the last ten years fully ninc-tentls of
the old converts and monastcres. (oncc the
finest structures in Mexico next to the cathc-
drals) have been utterly ruined as to beauty of
outline and harmony of proportion, because
the sordid purchasers, in order to obtain large
rentals, have turned them into tenement
houses. bowling alleys, gambling rooms, and
dancing halls. Thousands of the churches
have been similarly desecrated. All over MeXi-
co, from Jalapa on the Gulf coast to Monterey
near the Rio Gram,le we buy our vegetables
and calico, our cigarettes and groceries over Il
makc-Shift counter where once the IIigh-Atar
stood, or sleep where pious nuns told their
beads in holy secluSion. Many of the sanctll-
aries have been turned into army barracks,
horses are stabbed in the costcrs, and soldiers
play cards and hug their comp0neFas in the
dcsecrated holy of holieS.
A narrowing iconocast has lately transform
ell the grand old Jesuit College, with its grace
fully arched colonnadc and broad stone stair
ways, down which twelve persons could walk
abreast, into Il disgustngy gay and vulgar
apartment house, with red paint, gau,lily col
orcd glass and cheap furnishings. OF course
the ''smart' American, who bought this contis-
Gated church property for mere basatele
(and to-day realizes an income from it of not
less than $4,000 per annum). has the right to
do AS he pleases with his own; nevertheless he
Is
GUILTY OF HIGH TREASON
against good taste and architectural beauty and
ought to suffer banishment for the crime of
destroying one of the most magnificent monll-
ments of that ecclesiastical power which did
so much in the days of the Viccroys toward
embellshing MonteZuma's capital.
The church is 10 longer permitted to hold
real estate, most of its revenues are cut off,
and private citizens are now invested with the
titles of property which the Priests once held
rs Gods representatives. Under the present
regime anyhO,ly can sstenOuuce" church nror.